Jo Nesbo

Currently Reading - The Redeemer, Jo Nesbo

Submitted by Karen on

Book Title: 
The Redeemer
Author Name: 
Jo Nesbo

Having caught up a bit, I am actually currently reading this for real.  And the snow and cold is proving just the thing as summer is finally heating up around here.  This is one of my favourite series so it's great to be catching up with it (courtesy of the N pile in my challenge).

From the Blurb:

One freezing night in Oslo, Christmas shoppers gather to listen to a Salvation Army street concert.  An explosion cuts through the music, and a man in uniform falls to the ground, shot in the head at point blank range.

Opening Lines:

THE REDBREAST - Jo Nesbo

Author Information
Book Title: 
The Redbreast
Author Name: 
Jo Nesbo
Author's Home Country: 
Norway
ISBN: 
978-1-843-4321-3
Series: 
Harry Hole
Categorisation
Category: 
Crime Fiction
Sub Genre: 
Police Procedural
Location: 
Norway
Publisher: 
Harvill Secker
Year of Publication: 
2006

Book Review: 

Okay - a little housekeeping first.  I can't get accented characters to work properly here ... yet.  I'm working on it because it annoys me as much as it undoubtedly annoys readers of these posts.  
 
Secondly, a little background to the Harry Hole (pronounced - we think - Hurler, but corrections from those who really know would be extremely welcome)!  THE DEVIL'S STAR (released in English first) is actually number 5 in the series, THE REDBREAST (released in English second) is number 3 in the series and NEMESIS (to be released about now, so third) is actually number 4 in the series.  Confused.  So were the rest of us :)
 
On the upside the first two available books are readable out of order, although THE REDBREAST does explain Harry's situation and demeanor in THE DEVIL'S STAR.
 
But THE REDBREAST - well it's a wonderful book.  As you often find in these wonderful, multi-layered and textural (that's textured as opposed to text) books from fabulous Scandinavian authors, we're treated to some entertainment, with an exploration of a societal problem / an itch that needs to be scratched.  THE REDBREAST explores the ongoing fallout from the Second World War.  That war has ramifications in the local society right up until the current day, and it's worthwhile reading THE REDBREAST just to see how the war affected other cultures, maybe countries that were much closer to the action than we were - for example - in Australia.  
 
Nesbo is also the sort of author who is not afraid to cause the reader trauma - characters that you get close to can die, their death can involve other characters who continue on.  Nothing is straight forward and nothing is constantly easy.
 
If this makes THE REDBREAST perhaps sound a bit too much, then it shouldn't.  It's the sort of book that moves backwards and forwards between the then (1940's at War) and now (1999) as Harry investigates the existence of a very unexpected weapon, without necessarily knowing who has it or why.  There are sub-plots built into the narrative as well, neo-Nazi's; drugs; all sorts of underground activities that clearly show that life these days isn't straightforward.  All of those threads stack up in comparison against life in the war years - the complications of whose side to fight on, the reaction to collaborators when the war was over, the difficulties of surviving through a war, and in a time when attitudes were considerably different than they are today.
 
 

Currently Reading - The Redbreast, Jo Nesbo

Submitted by Karen on

Book Title: 
The Redbreast
Author Name: 
Jo Nesbo

I've picked this book up after having it here for the longest time, because it's an upcoming discussion book on 4 Mystery Addicts

"A grey bird glided in and out of Harry's field of vision.  He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.  Slow time.  Somebody had been talking about 'slow time' on TV yesterday.  This was slow time.  Like on Christmas Eve before Father Christmas came.  Or sitting in the electric chair before the current was turned on."

THE DEVIL'S STAR - Jo Nesbo

Author Information
Book Title: 
The Devil's Star
Author Name: 
Jo Nesbo
Author's Home Country: 
Norway
ISBN: 
1843432161
Series: 
Harry Hole
Categorisation
Category: 
Crime Fiction
Sub Genre: 
Police Procedural
Location: 
Norway
Publisher: 
Harvill Secker
Year of Publication: 
2005
Book Review: 

In the middle of a long hot summer in Oslo, a young woman's body is found murdered in her flat, with one finger cut off and a tiny five pointed star diamond beneath her eyelid.
 
Detective Harry Hole is a chronic alcoholic, on the verge of being sacked from the police force; but it's summer, everyone's on holidays and his boss has no choice but to assign the case to Harry and his colleague Tom Waaler. Harry doesn't trust Tom and suspects him of, amongst other things, arms smuggling. Harry's drinking problem is greatly exacerbated by his guilt and distress over the death of his work partner, who he suspects was killed by Tom and despite his objections and his chronic drinking, he has to stay on the case.
 
A woman is then reported missing and the only clue is her severed finger wearing a ring with the same sort of star-shaped red diamond and everyone realises that they have a serial killer in Oslo.
 
As bodies continue to be discovered it seems that 5 is the common denominator: five points to the star, 5 fingers, and 5 days between each victim. Whilst Harry is determined to find this killer, and to expose Tom he finds himself on the run from the police and forced to act to protect the son of his estranged lover into the bargain.
 
Reading this synopsis, you can almost feel the reaction. Alcoholic policeman in trouble with his boss. A serial killer. Bizarre "clues" from the killer. Dangerous cliche ridden territory you would think, but from the opening of the book which describes the passage of water through a building from the point of view of the history of the building, through to the struggle that Harry has in handling his alcoholism, relationships, and the personal campaign he carries to expose corruption in the police force the cliches are not evident and this is a very promising debut novel.
 
Starting out with a disappearance, switching to the investigation of a serial killer, following the exposure of a corrupt policeman and then a final twist that is quite deftly handled taking the book from a crime fiction story to a tense thriller was clever and highly engaging. Oslo was an interesting setting with sufficient of the location provided to give some context to the story, but deftly avoiding becoming a travelogue.
 
Definitely an entry in the increasing list of Scandinavian crime fiction author must reads.
Subscribe to RSS - Jo Nesbo